Today the seventh grade class under Mrs. Garst is exploring prejudice as a follow up to the reading of the novel "The Cay". Students have various approaches to studying prejudice. Jayden conducted a survey about how people observe others...by color of skin or clothes or some other descriptive quality. Some other students are writing essays about discrimination from various points of view. Local prejudice was discussed briefly with students so we are all aware it still happens and happens here!

Make a commercial with Animoto

After reading the book, The Cay, Mrs. Garst has been following up with various student projects in reflection. One of the assignments was to make a commercial. Rather than do a powerpoint, or re-enact with flip cameras, some students chose to do so with Animoto. We have never tried this before in a group setting, but after we applied and got accepted for an educational account with Animoto, the students have logged in and learned some of the makings of a commercial. We've learned that a paragraph on the screen is not always in the viewers best interest if trying to sell the book. We have also learned that summarizing the book or a part of it, something needs to change within every 10 seconds (learning directly & indirectly) in order to keep the viewers attention..... creating titles for the videos are limited to 30 characters and up to 2 lines per slide using Animoto's settings, with flexibility using SMART Notebook and customizing a slide and uploading a screenshot. We've learned that picture after picture, or a ton of text doesn't always sell the viewer on the product. Uploading photos, screenshots, text, and selecting from animoto's music or uploading other, the students have been able to assemble a commercial in a minimal amount of time.

While this example I'm sharing with you that was made by three students in a group probably will go back into corrections, it is an example of time crunch classroom multimedia projects. We had 1 day to officially work on it in class, and several days to work on it in homeroom, before or after school if they so chose.

http://animoto.com/play/RTL0KHTRqDlLgbjahnaXTQ

HHHMMMMMM...Here we go!!